So NaBloPoMo 2010 was a big fat fail for me. I did fine for 3 days, then on day 4, I tried three times to write a post, but nothing came out. I have somewhat high standards for myself, and I just can’t put out a half-assed post.
I also failed to plan for NaBloPoMo. It was a last minute decision to try to participate, and because of that I didn’t have time to properly plan my posts, to write ahead of time and make sure that I have time for real life. The article 7 Reason Why You Should Schedule Your Blog Posts lists 7 excellent reasons for writing ahead of time. The three posts I did manage to do this month were not done ahead of time – not even the night before. I whipped them up while on a break at work, publishing them at the last minute. I generally don’t like to work that way. I once got a taste of scheduling posts ahead of time, not too long ago when I actually had my shit together regarding this blog, and I found I really liked it. It makes me feel like my blog is running on auto-pilot, and makes me more excited to blog.
Instead, lately I’ve been spending time with my dog, making as much of an effort as possible to properly house train her. Her personality is coming out more, and she’s been doing OK with potty training, but she still has accidents. We’re working on it, and she’s getting less skittish every day. I did give her a bath yesterday, which freaked her out, but she’s clean and soft now. It is time consuming taking care of a dog, even though she thinks she’s a cat and sleeps about 20 hours a day.
Also keeping me busy is the jewelry. I finished a few more pairs of earrings, and I am thoroughly enjoying the process. I found some video tutorials online, and once I learned how to make a simple loop, things went a whole lot faster and I had a lot less hand cramping.
Besides affecting the time I have to write on this blog, Greta and my crafting are taking away from the time I have to read other blogs. It seems that the past few weeks I’ve been perpetually behind on my feed reader, and when I’m consistently behind like that, I comment a whole lot less. That’s just something we’ll all have to put up with until I find some balance.
That’s all the news I have for now. I’ll try to keep up, but like I said, it seems like I’m getting a life outside of blogging, so if I can get to writing, I might actually have something to write about.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. It sounds like you’re thoughtfully considering your priorities. Nothing wrong with that.
Thank you for sharing that article. It’s very interesting.
Small dogs are harder to potty train and if it isn’t done right the first time when they are puppies it’s even harder. I have two small dogs and neither were trained right the first time. I have been able to potty train one, thank gosh. The other one, a Chihuahua, just will not stop marking my house. Now we keep him confined to one room and outside. When we are gone we have a crate for him. I don’t usually like crates but these little dogs seem to like them, I guess they feel safe. They do take a lot of time to train properly but once they are trained, if they are trained well, they make wonderful companions. I have a Pomeranian and she just adores me.
Good luck and have fun with it.
Sara, it’s nice to have something to think about other than blog blog blog internet blog blog. And I’m glad you liked the article – Ben writes a lot of good stuff!
Kelly, we tried to crate train Greta but she doesn’t like being left alone in it. Mister was sleeping and she woke him up by howling, though we think the other dogs in the neighborhood contributed to that. We’re trying the “keep an eye on her so she doesn’t have a chance to go inside” tactic, and I’d say about 70% of the time she goes outside. Other than the potty training issue, she’s great – she’d live in my lap if I let her!